In a new study, DNA from a 5,310-year-old corn cob found in the Tehuacán Valley in Mexico was sequenced and compared to modern maize and its wild progenitor grasses. The sample was found to be an intermediate between modern maize and its wild relatives, suggesting a gradual, protracted domestication process.

Recently, during the Christmas season, a friend of mine visited me and, sneaking a look at my bookshelves, found two rather old Nikola Tesla biographies, which I had used to prepare a "Retrospectroscope" column for the then-named IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine when our dear friend Alvin Wald was its editor-inchief [2]. Eighteen years have elapsed since then; soon, the idea came up of revamping the article. Cynthia Weber, the magazine's current associate editor, considered it acceptable, and here is the new note divided in two parts: that is, a slightly revised version of the original article followed by new material, including some quite interesting information regarding Tesla's homes and laboratories...

This paper describes a novel readout scheme that enables the complete cancellation of sneak currents in resistive switching random-access memory (RRAM) crossbar array. The current-mode readout is employed in the proposed readout, and a few critical advantages of the current-mode readout for crossbar RRAM are elucidated in this paper. The proposed scheme is based on a floating readout scheme for low power consumption, and one more sensing port is introduced using an additional reference word line. From the additional port, information on the sneak current amount is collected, and simple current-mode arithmetic operations are implemented to cancel out the sneak current from the sensing current...

SIGNIFICANCE: Haptoglobin (Hp) is an abundant human plasma protein that tightly captures hemoglobin (Hb) during hemolysis. The Hb-Hp complex formation reduces the oxidative properties of heme/Hb and promotes recognition by the macrophage receptor CD163. This leads to Hb-Hp breakdown and heme catabolism by heme oxygenase. Gene duplications of a part of or the entire Hp gene in the primate evolution has led to variant Hp gene products that collectively may be designated 'the haptoglobins' as they all bind Hb...

Many mobile phone or tablet applications have been designed to control cardiovascular risk factors (obesity, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, diabetes and hypertension) or to optimize treatment adherence. Some have been shown to be useful but the long-term benefits remain to be demonstrated. Digital stethoscopes make easier the interpretation of abnormal heart sounds, and the development of pocket-sized echo machines may quickly and significantly expand the use of ultrasounds. Daily home monitoring of pulmonary artery pressures with wireless implantable sensors has been shown to be associated with a significant decrease in hospital readmissions for heart failure...

In most teleost fish species, sperm competition is a key factor in determining male reproductive success, leading to selection on males to increase their reproductive investment in gonads and ejaculate competitiveness. In this study, reproductive investment patterns were assayed by examining the relative investment in gonads and sperm quality metrics (in river water and in the presence of ovarian fluid) of masu salmon, Oncorhynchus masou, representing two fixed male alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs; small sneaking parr males and large dominant anadromous males)...

Three-dimensional (3D) stackable memory frames, including nano-scaled crossbar arrays, are one of the most reliable building blocks to meet the demand of high-density non-volatile memory electronics. However, their utilization has the disadvantage of introducing issues related to sneak paths, which can negatively impact device performance. We address the enhancement of complementary resistive switching (CRS) features via the incorporation of insulating frames as a generic approach to extend their use; here, a Pt/Ta2O5-x/Ta/Ta2O5-x/Pt frame is chosen as the basic CRS cell...

Cross-point memory architecture (CPMA) by using memristors has attracted considerable attention because of its high-density integration. However, a common and significant drawback of the CPMA is related to crosstalk issues between cells by sneak currents. This study demonstrated the sneak current free resistive switching characteristic of a ferroelectric tunnel diode (FTD) memristor for a CPMA by utilizing a novel concept of a ferroelectric quadrangle and triangle barrier switch. A FTD of Au/BaTiO3 (5 nm)/Nb-doped SrTiO3 (100) was used to obtain a desirable memristive effect for the CPMA...

When competing for mates, males typically exhibit higher rates of intrasexual aggression and courtship than females. Operational sex ratio, represented here by adult sex ratio (ASR) as a proxy, is likely the best predictor of this competition, which typically increases between members of one sex as members of the opposite sex become rarer. Moreover, in populations subject to high predation, males often decrease mating competitive behaviour due to predation risk. We explored the combined effects of ASR and population of origin (low vs...

Elaborate, sexually dimorphic traits are widely thought to evolve under sexual selection through female preference, male-male competition, or both. The orangethroat darter (Etheostoma spectabile) is a sexually dichromatic fish in which females exhibit no preferences for male size or coloration. We tested whether these traits affect individual reproductive success in E. spectabile when multiple males are allowed to freely compete for a female. The quality and quantity of male coloration were associated with greater success in maintaining access to the female and in spawning as the primary male (first male to participate)...

Lack of access to human tissues with untreated tuberculosis (TB) has forced generations of researchers to use animal models and to adopt a paradigm that granulomas are the characteristic lesion of both primary and post primary TB. An extended search of studies of human lung tissues failed to find any reports that support this paradigm. We found scores of publications from gross pathology in 1804 through high resolution CT scans in 2015 that identify obstructive lobular pneumonia, not granulomas, as the characteristic lesion of developing post-primary TB...

Mating system variability is known to exist between and within species, often due to environmental influences. An open question is whether, vice versa, similar environmental conditions entail congruent mating behavior, for example in terms of multiple paternity, in species or populations sharing largely comparable breeding modes. This study employed microsatellite markers to investigate the incidence of multiple paternity in Cyprichromis coloratus and Cyprichromis leptosoma, two sympatric, closely related, mouthbrooding Lake Tanganyika cichlids with similar ecological and behavioral characteristics including the formation of open-water schools...

High-density memristor-crossbar architecture is a very promising technology for future computing systems. The simplicity of the gateless-crossbar structure is both its principal advantage and the source of undesired sneak-paths of current. This parasitic current could consume an enormous amount of energy and ruin the readout process. We introduce new adaptive-threshold readout techniques that utilize the locality and hierarchy properties of the computer-memory system to address the sneak-paths problem. The proposed methods require a single memory access per pixel for an array readout...

Is it true that haste is sneaking into medicine? In this article, it is argued that it mainly concerns the perception of being rushed, which is caused by a loss of autonomy of the modern physician. In the fifties, physicians were busy as well, but because they enjoyed a greater degree of autonomy compared to their contemporary colleagues, they did not experience this in a negative way. Due to increased bureaucracy and the introduction of market dynamics, the medical profession has lost autonomy, which in turn led to a loss of job satisfaction...

Electrophoretic methods have been widely applied in research on the roles of metal complexes in biological systems. In particular, CE, often hyphenated to a sensitive MS detector, has provided valuable information on the modes of action of metal-based pharmaceuticals, and more recently new methods have been added to the electrophoretic toolbox. The range of applications continues to expand as a result of enhanced CE-to-MS interfacing, with sensitivity often at picomolar level, and evolved separation modes allowing for innovative sample analysis...

BACKGROUND: Tobacco use in various forms, including with Areca nut, causes several potentially malignant disorders. Many lesions may transform into oral squamous cell carcinoma. Although patients may be aware of the hazards of tobacco habits, the lesions by themselves are insidious in nature resulting in failure of patients to present to general dentists/specialists at early stages. Our aim was to study the types of habits prevalent in the region of Rourkela in Orissa and to assess the insidious nature of the lesions associated with these habits...